AFA's springboard to 2010?

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Don't forget If TCU somehow plays for the college football national
title, nobody came closer to beating the Horned Frogs than Air Force
(20-17).

Worth seeing Colorado College hockey is off to a great start, but
college fans should plan to watch the North Dakota-Denver series
opener at 7:30 p.m., Friday on FOX Sports Rocky Mountain.

Good news Rockies plan to re-sign second baseman Clint Barmes, a free
agent.

Who's next? If Colorado jettisons head football coach Dan Hawkins,
the replacement should be CU alum and ex-NFL receiver Dave Logan, who
has been hugely successful at Mullen High School in Denver.

Troy Calhoun always has been optimistic about the future of
Air Force football. He and his staff believe in the cadet-athletes,
mainly because most of them followed that same path.

To the coaches and players, it's perfectly logical to envision
— and even fully expect — the Falcons to have a chance
against any college team in America, because that's been the prevailing
mood inside AFA football for virtually its entire history. From facing
and often beating the likes of Nebraska and UCLA in the early days; to
knocking off Notre Dame, Texas, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Brigham
Young, Mississippi and more during the 1980s and '90s; to standing tall
against such opponents as Tennessee, Fresno State, Notre Dame, TCU and
Utah in this decade, Air Force has developed and maintained its
fearless personality.

But individual games don't always define successful programs.
Seasons do. Especially when a team can continue to stay at a certain
level, year after year, with new groups of stars and leaders stepping
in when their time comes.

That's why Calhoun's three-year run at Air Force has been so
impressive. He has brought back the consistency of making it to bowl
games — every year. Even amid the best era yet for the
still-young Mountain West Conference, Calhoun's Falcons have pushed
themselves toward its top echelon.

Through it all, this AFA staff has appeared to be building something
bigger. Calhoun talked about it in an interview two years ago, looking
to the day when a string of solid recruiting classes would take the
Falcons to becoming a senior-junior team every year, with only a
smattering of freshmen and sophomores helping fill the depth chart.

Back then, Calhoun spoke hopefully — but patiently — of
that moment perhaps arriving in 2010 and continuing thereafter. Then,
Air Force might be in position to take another step up, to where simply
going 7-5 or 8-4 and playing in any bowl wouldn't be good enough
anymore.

Next season still is nearly 10 months away, but the Falcons (7-4)
have reached the point where they might be ready to provide a sneak
preview. On Saturday (1:30 p.m., CBS College), they wrap up the 2009
regular season at Provo, Utah, against No. 19 Brigham Young (8-2),
followed by a bowl game that could take Air Force anywhere from
Albuquerque to Boise or San Diego.

Two more games. Two shots for this team to lay the foundation for
whatever is coming in 2010, when the AFA schedule includes a September
trip to none other than Oklahoma before the Mountain West wars against
TCU, Utah and BYU, plus a visit from Navy in early October.

To be ready for that, Air Force should seize this opportunity.
Calhoun has beaten TCU and Utah but hasn't broken through against BYU.
It won't be easy, either, mainly because the Cougars' senior
quarterback, Max Hall, has owned the Falcons. Air Force has only
won twice at Provo, in 2003 (when BYU was on a brief downslide) but
otherwise only in 1982, a 39-38 classic that catapulted the Falcons
toward four straight wins over Notre Dame and four straight bowl
victories.

Hardly anybody outside the Academy thought the Falcons could pull it
off in 1982, and the feeling is eerily similar now, with BYU favored by
10 points. Soph quarterback Tim Jefferson is showing more and
more flashes of brilliance, Asher Clark and Savier
Stephens are looking more confident at halfback, Jared Tew
and Nathan Walker are providing a 1-2 punch at fullback, and the
Falcons have three big-play receivers in Kevin Fogler, Kyle
Halderman and Jonathan Warzeka. Oh, and did we mention that
all of those offensive leaders will return next fall?

Thanks to them, and a solid offensive line, Air Force is controlling
the football. And its defense hasn't worn down, as with so many AFA
teams.

Of course, if the Falcons can't secure a hallmark victory at Provo,
most onlookers will simply look at Air Force as still the "best of the
rest" in the Mountain West, leading the "second division" behind TCU,
Utah and BYU.

Is that the most Air Force should realistically expect? Or is
Calhoun's program on the brink of something better?